My Political Post

I am so angry at Republicans. They had a chance 4 years ago to get #45 out of politics and they put party over country and constitution. We are reaping the consequences of their inaction. 

I have an entire list of matters to be angry about:

The destruction of the US economy

ditto: DEI

treatment of transgender

treatment of all marginalized communities

 ICE

Mr. 34 (for his felony convictions) destroying US reputation

rise of racism and white supremacy

stupid tariff war

 This is not the entirety of the list, just a sample.

It's Snowing!

 Sort of. I have tatted Harmony of Hearts snowflake from A Veritable Tatted Blizzard. Due to not reading ahead, I ended up with 2 variations of the same flake. I did make 1 change, I used a split chain to go from round 1 to round 2. Note: I started with 4 yards on each shuttle, then ran short of thread on shuttle 2 (lots of chains, no surprise), SLT and still ended up with over a yard of thread on shuttle1. Next iteration, I'm going to use 3 yards on shuttle 1 and 5 yards on shuttle 2.

I'm working on my Solar Flare in silver and round out of thread. This wouldn't be horrible, but there are beads involved. 

I did get my teacher application for Palmetto Tat Days submitted. I'm not 100% happy with the diagrams, though.

UNC winter blood drive was today. I successfully donated. Since I didn't manage to sign up for a volunteer shift I helped with set up last night. The person who usually helps set up the canteen wasn't available so we went off our best memories of the set up (folks who do usually work that station had a good idea how it's supposed to be). So once we were done, I took pictures so we'll have them next year. 

I lost Whamageddon, though.

I ordered maps for Rosemary. She had bought them but needed them printed out. And it's much easier and faster to get them printed on big paper by a print shop than print them on 8.5x11 and then tape them together.

Hanukkah starts at sunset. May your life be filled with light. Yes, I know what's happening in Gaza. What Hamas did was horrible. And Israel's leadership has done some US level horrific actions (Japanese internment camp and Native American Reservation level of horrible), so they don't have clean hands. It's too much to hope that children should be able to be safe, warm, and fed, I guess.

And the so-called Republican leadership in Congress is just embarrassing. They're so busy bickering and yelling things for the social media engagement that they aren't leading. Never mind paying attention to what would actually help their constituents and the nation, that never seems to cross their mind. The closest I've seen is an attitude of 'this is what I want so it must be what everyone wants.'

Oh if you want an idea about the reliability and/or bias of a news source, here's a handy dandy chart.

2 weeks already?

I missed last week because I was on my monthly date with CC. We ended early because we were both tired, but still didn't get an entry done after.

Google+ is dying and they're ending elements of it already. Service flickers in and out. I'm trying another couple social platforms to see which ones fit.

The scarf I started using Bamboo Bloom just isn't working. I'm going to frog it and start over. OTOH, I've all but the closure finished on CD's scarf. I steam blocked it to get the final width I needed, then sewed up the back to make it a hood/scarf. It needs a toggle closure. I picked up the toggle and I made a kumihimo braid for the loop.

the image is from the link above

the eyelet is invisible

When I saw CC, I gave her some of my excess cotton yarn, plus some red heart I got from mom.

We didn't get that wintry weather. In fact, we had a week of spring-like weather. Then the weekend turned cold and damp. It's unpleasant, but at least it's not icy. Meanwhile, folks in Australia, neighboring New Zealand, et al are suffering through punishing summer heat. It's the opposite of what the Pacific NW US just got (snow, lots of it), but the same reason: climate change.

I made a point of buying some girl scout cookies, especially since I heard their views of trans girls. Yes, the story is 3 years old, but every time I see it, I remind myself to buy cookies.

I tested my tatted temperature scarf. At first I thought  three flowers per day in size 20, but that looked too small, so I tried size 10. But then I did the math and that's too big. I'm going with a row of 7 flowers per week, in size 20. Each flower's rings will be the low temp of the day and the chains will be the high temp. I think I'll mark the extraordinary weather (more than a 1/2" of rain or snow/ice) with a row of split rings.

size 20 prototype

It's still going to be long, ~5', and kind of wide, ~9", but in lace it will be much lighter than my 18 foot 2018 scarf.

I did make a scarf from some of the yarn I got from Mom. I gave it to RW's daughter, Frank (that's her nickname). RW gave me a hair pin/shawl pin from their trip to Costa Rica. Our game on Sunday got cancelled, so we played Lord of the Rings Online. They showed up photos from their trip during our visit.

garter stitch, 2 skeins

Chancellor Folt is gone. She resigned because she knew there'd be blowback from her decision to remove the Confederate monument pedestal. It was definitely the right thing to do; from a safety perspective if nothing else (and there's lots else). Then the Board of Governors were petty and classless and fired her, instead of letting her work 'til the end of the semester.

I started the scarf DB asked for. He's living in California now, so he wants it lighter weight than my usual. He wants a long scarf with bands of color, a la Tom Baker's Dr. Who scarf; but not quite that long and definitely not that dense.

Mom was about 16 in this photo, and in her sister's wedding. She says this dress was ice blue and she wore it for ages after.

I've signed up to donate platelets this week. Hopefully, it will go as smoothly as the last one.

pretty sky

Oh, I found someone who wants mom's bed. I just need to make arrangements to meet him so we can take it apart, etc.

Much Improved

I have the occasional cough and that's it. I am so much better now.

I volunteered at a blood drive last week, but due to my lingering cold symptoms I didn't donate. I have now made an appointment to donate platelets next week. Wish me luck.

I had a dental appointment next week, but then remembered a meeting that same morning so I cancelled it. I need to reschedule.

The big news at work is the removal of the Silent Sam, aka Confederate monument, pedestal and the BoG firing the chancellor. Frankly, not even letting her finish the semester makes them look petty.

The Federal Government is still shut down. #45 is throwing a temper tantrum and Mitch McConnell is aiding and abetting his tantrum.

I made it to the Tri-Tatters meeting on Saturday. The library rooms weren't available this month, so we met at a Starbucks. They only let rooms for 2 hours, so we had a short meeting. I got there late because I just felt meh. The cold rain didn't help. I handed out some of the size 10 Alisa got from her friend. One ball went to a new tatter and the other 6 to the woman who was leaving as I arrived and let me have her seat.

Someone brought in a couple of extra vintage tatting books. No one else got this one, so I did.

The only tatting I've been doing is small projects to use up some vintage thread. The thread was wrapping around a ball of paper, and it's not continuous. It's been a little frustrating. I went ahead and loaded two shuttles and I've gradually been tatting them down.

I'm still working on Mom's shrug. I finished the shoulders and the 2nd skein about the same time. Now I'm on the 2nd sleeve and the 3rd skein. I'm also working on A n' S's washcloths. I have 3 of them done (and given them 2) but the last one is being very slow. It's a moss stitch and should do quite well.

I did have a close call. I was moving the shrug around (as I hunting up where I'd put the 3rd skein) and some of the stitches popped off the pegs. And some of the purl stitches came out. I managed to get the stitches on the edge back onto pegs, and got loops of yarn (pulled stitches) and stitches back on. Then I purled the loops back into place. Whew. All saved.








first sleeve almost done here








A friend has asked me for a long scarf, kind of like my temperature scarf. But he wants blue, black, purple, etc quasi-Dr. Who scarf. I think I can do it in cotton. I shall have to check the sales to get the yarn cheap enough. He's willing to pay, but it's going to take me a long time to make.

Sunday, Chris and I went to pick up my (much) belated birthday present. Apparently he's been looking for this present for months.

It needs some cleaning and stuff, but it's an old table Singer sewing machine. I got a picture of the engine, but not the serial number. It's in storage now because I'll need to make a place to put it. It's probably c. 1959.

The social media site, Google+ is being closed down. It really makes me sad. I've made some good friends and contacts there.

but here's a pretty sky

Gillette has a new ad out. It tempts me to buy my next razor from them. There are some who consider it a company profiting from a political movement, and yes, it is. But it's also calling on men to stand up, to other men and against toxic masculinity. And I'd rather the company take that stance than the opposite view.

Martin Luther King, Jr, and other matters

There's been a rise in racism, anti-semitism, and other hate speech activity. Read this article.

And if you're active online, be aware of this website; it has way too much information. You can opt out, but that may merely mean your information is not publicly accessible, it may still be there.

But to cheer up, here are a couple videos; one is a music video and one is of animals playing in the snow.

I went to visit mom on Saturday. The remote did nothing. A new dvd player did nothing. It is definitely the tv. But we had a nice lunch.

I've started knitting a shawl. It's Sweet on Ruffles by Renee Van Hoy.

I passed the halfway point on my shawl.

Unfortunately, I've reached the point where it's not easy to take it with me. I only work on it at home now.

I was behind on my 90 hearts by NC Regional Lace Day but I caught up today. I'm still on track to get all 90 done.

Post Time Change malaise

Not to mention post-election malaise. I didn't support Trump (want to know why, check Politifact.com and Snopes.com) and now, thanks to the Electoral College mess, we're stuck with him for 4 years. Unless of course, he gets impeached because he's found guilty in one of the fraud cases he's involved in (I don't know how the civil case involving the accusation of rape of a 13-year old would affect him). Then we're stuck with Pence. A man who accepted being Trump's running mate, which says volumes about him.

My only consolation is that he didn't win the popular vote, so most voters opposed him. But when I check my social media on Wednesday and one friend is working on a 'safety plan' because she fears for her life (because she's one of the demonized marginalized groups) and another asks her husband not to wear the symbol of their membership of another marginalized group, well, I turned off my social media. I just kept crying and it's hard to do my job. As it is, I had an absolutely lovely migraine last night.

Oh, and the gubernatorial race is so close we don't know who won yet. And while HB2 nailed the coffin on McRory for me, I made my decision not to vote for him when he broke a post-election promise. The one promise that made me go 'okay, I'll give him a chance and see how he does.' I remember the days when not-my-candidate-wins meant a sigh and a 'well, the things I think are important aren't going to get attention for the next 4 years,' not fear. If McRory wins, I'll grit my teeth and gripe, but at least he (and his adherents) don't make me literally afraid.

Add to that, one of my beloved friends died on Monday and I found out on Tuesday. The funeral's on Friday and I won't be able to make it. And one of my student's is going to his grandmother's funeral on Friday. I've been using my coloring book stress relief hard.

I made a quick trip to see Mom on Sunday. I brought her a few things she's been wanting (emery boards, etc). It was a very short visit, but still.

I also stopped by to check on Carry's sheep. She was out of town and her usual sheep checkers were also out of town. I just gave them their supplemented feed and topped their water.

I wrote and mailed letters to the usual suspects (aunts, uncle, etc). Plus, I did some editing for a friend and wrote a couple short game entries. 

I would have included a couple pictures, but haven't managed to download them from my iPad.

Schedule...or Not?

It's only been a few days since my last post, but I'm trying to get into the groove of posting on a schedule.

I hope (for my US readers, all 2 of you) you had an enjoyable holiday weekend. For my other reader, I hope you had a good weekend and good start to the week. I lazed around and just did a few things around the house.

We now know the problem with the washing machine is not the hose and not the filter. We've changed one and cleaned the other; but the cold water still dribbles into the machine instead of pouring. It may be something wrong with the machine itself.

CD made chocolate chocolate chip cookies on Sunday. The first batch was a little overdone but the second batch came out perfect. I also have some Milano cookies I bought left from a potluck. Thank goodness I have (almond) milk to drink.

I still haven't picked up the yarn for the baby afghan project. Maybe I'll get a chance to do that tonight. Tonight is my date with CC so I'd have to pop into Michael's on the way.

I am so glad I had noted down the phone number for my voice mail in my old phone's contact list. I entered it in my new phone's contacts finally. I called it and I had 17 messages. None of them had dates or times (unlike my work voice mails) but the subjects mentioned let me know I could delete them; i.e. references to my mom being in the hospital. If there is some symbol or something to alert me about messages I haven't found it. There's something to let me know I missed a call or have a text message waiting, but that's it.

NASA got the Juno satellite in place. Yes, it is rocket science. The links go to YouTube videos; one is the trailer and one is a documentary on the project.

From futuristic, to ancient past; here's a short video of a young woman using kulning to summon cows back to pasture. There's a difference between kulning and hollering.

I wonder if my local comic store could get this series, Saltire; it's an import so it might be difficult.

I did get some good news. Another friend called to let me know he and his wife are expecting a baby. They're not spreading the news yet, so I won't even mention initials. 

WARNING: Politics Ahead
And then there's the news from Istanbul; 41 people dead and how many more injured? During Ramadan, one of the holiest holidays in the Muslim calendar (or such is my impression). As usual, Daesh kills more Muslims than any other religion. Despite what they call themselves, Daesh is barely more Islamic than I am. But they could call themselves cars easier than I could, with just the same amount of truthfulness (they are closer to a major source of gasoline than I am). I refuse to call them their preferred name as they are neither Islamic nor a State. They are a terrorist political organization.

And two major US presidential candidates are in my state today, as well as the US President. At least none of them are in the towns where I live or work. No offense, but I'm pretty sick of all them by now. Okay, one of them more than the others. Can you guess which one?

Politics and Tatting

I'm starting this post on Friday, March 25th. The NC legislature and the NC governor had a special session (costing the state taxpayers a few thousand dollars) to pass this bill. These are some of the tweets responding. I don't usually talk about politics on my blog. But this, out of all the things the politicians have done this really gobsmacks me. I am not directly affected (I'm a moderately femme, ciswoman), but this bill is so rampantly discriminatory and they took special effort to pass it. This is a group who can't pass the frickin' budget on time. And it's also badly written. If Jane (name made up) doesn't want her 9-year-old son to go to the mall bathroom by himself, well, too bad. It's illegal for him to go with her. If they're cleaning the women's room at the gas station and I'm desperate to go, it's illegal for me to use the empty men's room. I definitely know some people who are definitely not getting my vote in November. I'm ordering an "I'll go with you" button, as soon as I have some spare change.

I went to the first work sponsored yoga class on Thursday. It's a work week, wind-down thing. We were in the Arboretum and it was lovely. I wish I'd gotten more than one picture. Note for next time; when it's time to lie down for the final relax phase, head uphill, not downhill. Just FYI.

Two bits of gaming news this week. They've started the beta playtest of Shadow of the Century Fate game. And I'm on the list. I'm reading through the book, sending in errata, and planning a game for the 3rd.

The other news is also Fate related. I submitted a pitch to write a building block for Fate Codex, and they accepted. I need to get my outline written by Friday, April 1st.

Tri-Tatters went to demonstrate for a few hours Saturday at Carolina Fiber Fest. I started a new bracelet and finished the hairstick dangle.

I've been making a few bracelets. Not a lot, because I've been distracted, but a couple. Here's Pearly Girl (thanks to the nice lady who named it for me).

I've started one in pale pink with purple beads.

I've taken some sky/cloud pictures and some flower pictures.

frost bitten pansy

touch of blue

And the clouds came rolling in

The sun sets

clouds like scurrying sheep

Very red

Wild Rose

December Rose

I've made a Blue Rose character (not that I expect to play her any time in the near future, but I can wish, right?). I'm reading Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusades, with the intention of reviewing it. I bought the new game The One Ring, set 5 years after the events in The Hobbit (by J.R.R. Tolkien if you've been living under a rock or not from an English speaking country).

Saw both parents at Thanksgiving (no, this is not typical and hasn't been since they separated when I was 6). Dad came by for lunch on Thanksgiving Day; thank you, K&W for being open so I didn't have to cook. I at supper with the SO's parents. I was supposed to donate platelets on Friday but I got a migraine; and aspirin means no platelet donation. I went to Mom's for the weekend. We went to only 2 stores; an AC Moore & a thrift shop. I did pick up some new audiobooks.

I found out the cassette tape iPod accessory in my car doesn't work so well anymore. All that noise was not coming from my car stereo, after all. My car stereo is old enough to be in college, so I wasn't surprised when the noise quality declined. Except, those pops and static were from the cassette hooked up to my iPod. I've been listening to some audiobooks instead.

I took part in NaNoWriMo. I wasn't expecting to hit the 50,000 words, I just wanted to finish my short story. And I did. I'm going to wait until the new year to look at it again and start the editing process but I have a beginning, a middle and an end. The end desperately needs work, but it's there.

I've started reading Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling series. Bluntly, the blurb for the first book turned me off. But I've enjoyed her Guild Hunter series so much, I decided to give her other series a try. I've read the 1^st two books now and I'm looking for the 3^rd.

I just read a book by a new (to me) author, Jessica Sims. Or is it Jennifer? Anyway, the book title is Beauty Dates the Beast. It's an entertaining book and I'm looking forward to the next one.

I figured out what to get my mom for Christmas. I found a really good source for hair henna. Unlike what she used to use, this stuff won't turn her white hair to neon orange.

I'm still working on what to get Dad. He might get a stove or something for a reservation resident. I'll have to look. I think he might like a charity gift this year. I saw a book I thought he'd like. I was right, too bad someone already loaned him a copy.

I have an idea for my brother (he was the 1^st one I figured, I just need to order it). But I'm at a loss for my sister-in-law. My niece will be getting a new pair of earbuds and maybe a bracelet made to order. If I find an interesting cd, she might get that, too. Maybe.

I have a couple things for the SO already. But there's still quite a few people I'd like to get something for them. I need to pull out my list and make decisions.

The VCR died. Or maybe just the tape that's in it did. The tape is kind of hanging from the VCR, like a cat holding a mouse by its tail. There went my copy of Strictly Ballroom.

Last night I went to a presentation about Chang and Eng Bunker. Do you know who they were? They were the original Siamese twins. They took a physical drawback, and it was severe (the King of Siam almost had them beheaded for being a 2-headed Chinese demon) and became businessmen. They were sharp, too. They were successful enough to buy a good tobacco farm in North Carolina. They married and had full lives. They were articulate and made sure all their kids had a good education.

WARNING: Politics Ahead

This is a speech before the Iowan Congress